According to police sources, the attack was determined to be an attempted robbery, not officially classified as a hate crime. The young man, who was not wearing identifiable Jewish clothing, was approached by four masked suspects. They asked for change, then repeatedly punched and kicked him before they fled. He was transported to the hospital and thankfully is now in stable condition. 

Law enforcement’s classification of the crime is important in a legal sense. But it does not erase a deeper reality we are witnessing today in the United States at an alarming rate. Jewish communities across our country are living in a climate of rising antisemitism. When a Jewish student is attacked near a Jewish university, fear reverberates beyond the individual victim. That fear is real, and it deserves acknowledgment.

Antisemitism does not always announce itself clearly. Sometimes it appears as open hatred. Sometimes it hides in coded political language or conspiracy theories. Sometimes it emerges in violence. And sometimes it exists in the normalization of hostility toward Jewish identity and Jewish institutions. Even when a specific incident is not legally classified as a hate crime, the broader cultural environment matters.

Antisemitism is evil because it strikes at the very core of human dignity. It denies the truth that every person is created in the image and likeness of God. It replaces reason with conspiracy, compassion with cruelty, and truth with distortion. History has shown us where that road leads. It has led to persecution, and ultimately to the Holocaust. We do not have the luxury of forgetting those lessons.

As a Roman Catholic, I speak with humility as well as conviction. There were periods in history when members of my own Church contributed to hostility and injustice toward the Jewish people. Those chapters are painful and undeniable. Over time, the Church formally rejected antisemitism and affirmed the enduring covenant between God and the Jewish people. In Nostra Aetate ("In Our Time"), promulgated by Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965; the Church formally rejected the historical "deicide" charge that accused Jews of collective guilt for the death of Jesus, condemning all forms of anti-Jewish hatred.

We recognize that the Jewish people are the chosen people, entrusted with a sacred covenant and a responsibility that has shaped salvation history. Christianity is rooted in Judaism. Our Scriptures and moral foundations are inseparable from the Jewish tradition. To hate the Jewish people is to deny our own spiritual roots. 

Standing with Israel and with the Jewish community is not about partisan politics. It is about moral clarity. Israel has the right to exist in peace and security. The Jewish people have the right to live safely in their historic homeland. Jewish communities around the world have the right to worship freely, to gather openly, and to raise their children without fear.

Violence against Jewish people, whether in Israel or here in the United States, is not merely an attack on individuals. It is an attack on our shared humanity. When antisemitism is tolerated in rhetoric or minimized in conversation, it grows stronger. Silence in the face of hatred is not neutrality. It allows hatred to spread. 

Jewish families are woven into the fabric of our civic life. They serve as educators, physicians, entrepreneurs, artists, and public servants. They contribute to culture, scholarship, innovation, and philanthropy. They are neighbors and friends. When they are targeted, we must respond not with hesitation, but with solidarity. 

Antisemitism has no place in a free and moral society. It is wrong.It is destructive. It is incompatible with liberty, justice, and human dignity. We must confront it without qualification and without delay. That includes holding elected officials accountable when they tolerate, excuse, or amplify antisemitic rhetoric. Those in elected office carry a particular moral responsibility. Elected officials must be clear and unequivocal in rejecting antisemitism in all its forms. Silence, ambiguity, or political calculation in the face of antisemitism is not leadership. It is a failure of principle. 

To stand against antisemitism is to stand for human dignity. To stand with Israel and with the Jewish people is to affirm life, faith, and the enduring belief that hatred will never have the final word. 

Oscar A. Martinez is a United States Marine Corps combat veteran who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and a seasoned law enforcement professional with more than 15 years of service in Los Angeles County.After immigrating to the United States as a child, he embraced the values of hard work, faith, and public service that continue to guide his leadership today. He resides in Los Angeles County with his wife and their two children. Oscar Martinez is a candidate for Los Angeles County Sheriff in 2026.

Learn more or reach him at oscar4sheriff.com